VIDEO: JANE HEISHMAN HARE HALL OF FAME INDUCTION CEREMONY
As a Bridgewater athlete and coach, Jane Heishman played an integral role in possibly the most dominant era of women's sports in the college's history.
Born in Rockingham County, Jane came to Bridgewater in the fall of 1952 after graduating from nearby Dayton High School. She would soon become a key member of two of the Eagles' powerhouse athletic teams of the mid-1950s. Jane earned four varsity letters as a guard on the basketball team which compiled a 35-3 record from 1952-56 and played three years on a Bridgewater field hockey unit which posted a pair of undefeated seasons. As a junior, Jane helped the basketball team to a 9-0 record in 1954-55, the program's first-ever perfect season, and was also a member of Bridgewater's 6-0 field hockey team of 1953 and its 4-0-2 squad of 1955. Jane's biggest contribution to Bridgewater athletics came during her senior year, when she was one of three female undergraduates who headed the school's Health and Physical Education program and coached the women's field hockey, basketball and tennis teams. Jane, along with fellow Athletic Hall of Fame members Louise Owen and Dolores Heatwole Hoak, guided the three sports to a 20-1-2 overall mark with the field hockey and tennis teams each posting undefeated campaigns. She graduated magna cum laude in 1956 and was listed in that year's edition of Who's Who Among American Colleges and Universities.
After graduation, Jane continued involvement in sports through city recreation programs and family activities. In 1972, she earned a master's degree in Adult Education and Gerontology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. During that time she also helped found the Twins Streams adult education center in Chapel Hill. Jane spent 15 years working with the Coordinating Council for Senior Citizens in Durham as Coordinator of In-home services and served on a committee that developed standards for the accreditation of in-home service programs in the state of North Carolina. In 1989, June entered the Voluntary Service program of the Mennonite Board of Missions and over the next 11 years coordinated voluntary service programs in San Antonio, Texas and Richmond, Virginia. While in San Antonio, June was a founder of La Casa de Maria y Marta, a service-learning center with multi-cultural programming for teens and adults throughout North America.
Jane's extraordinary athletic achievements combined with her post-graduation accomplishments in community service make her a superb selection for the Bridgewater College Athletic Hall of Fame.
